Today, we are delighted to share a Words on the Times, Outriders Africa with Donna Obaseki-Ogunnaike – an Energy Law expert, speaker, humanivist ©, poet, writer and theatre practitioner, previously dubbed the ‘queen of spoken word poetry in Nigeria’ –… Read More ›
Words on the Times…
Q&A Words on the Times, Outriders Africa: Nadine Aisha Jassat
AiW note: Outriders Africa, a project announced at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2019, builds on the existing ambitious Outriders concept, exploring “the idea that in shifting, disorienting times, a writer can make a unique contribution to our understanding… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times with Ivan Vladislavic on “The Distance”
South African novelist Vladislavić delivers a moving, closely observed study in family dynamics in a time of apartheid…Vladislavić’s tale unfolds with grace and precision. A memorable, beautifully written story of love and loss. — Kirkus, Starred Review Ivan Vladislavić’s latest… Read More ›
Review: The collector as compulsive mythologist – Wole Soyinka’s “Beyond Aesthetics”.
AiW Guest: Joseph Oduro-Frimpong. AiW note: With his review of Wole Soyinka’s book, Beyond Aesthetics: Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions – “an intimate reflection on culture and tradition, creativity and power, that draws on a lifetime’s commitment to… Read More ›
Celebrating ‘The Decade Project’ with Brittle Paper: 10 AiW African Literary Cultural Faves
Literary blog and archiving platform Brittle Paper turns 10 this year! Happy birthday BP! This month we take up their invitation to join their celebrations in their #DecadeProject with a post marking the last ten years as a significant decade… Read More ›
Q&A: “No matter what, art and creativity can still shine through”: Words on the Times with Poda-Poda Stories’s Ngozi Cole
Poda-Poda Stories is a digital platform and literary journal that gathers rich stories from Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leonean diaspora, founded by Ngozi Cole in 2019. The name “Poda-Poda Stories” comes from Cole’s high school days where she travelled… Read More ›
Review: Physicality and Distortion in Dolla Sapeta’s ‘Skeptical Erections’
Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta is perhaps best known for his work as an artist and sculptor. In 2019, he made his literary debut with his first collection of poems, Skeptical Erections, published by Deep South. Reading Skeptical Erections makes it quickly… Read More ›
Words on the Times | #PastAndPresent: Revisiting Kólá Túbòsún and Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike in conversation
AiW note: After our post on the poetry collection Edwardsville by Heart, reviewed for us yesterday by Tade Ipadeola,we are delighted to be able to share Words on the Times with the book’s author, Kọlá Túbọsún, and Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike,… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times & theatre in the digital space – Walter Kahuma of Tebere Arts Foundation shares his thoughts on theatre and creativity in 2020
Tebere Arts Foundation is an innovative theatre and performance-arts organization that was founded in Uganda in 2018. Creating collaborative new theatre with artists and supporting artistic platforms across Eastern Africa, Tebere Arts pushes the boundaries of theatre-making by bridging the… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020 – “There’s been a lot of kindness and even rediscovery of a sense of community”: Words on the Times with the shortlisted writers.
Ahead of the announcement of the AKO Caine Prize’s winner today at 5pm BST, we were able to catch up with Erica Sugo Anyadike, Chikodili Emelumadu, Jowhor Ile, Rémy Ngamije for their Words on the Times – an AiW Q&A set inspired… Read More ›
Review: In Search of Life Elsewhere – Ifedigbo Nze Sylva’s ‘My Mind is No Longer Here’
AiW Guest: Tọ́pẹ́ Salaudeen-Adégòkè. AiW note: Tọ́pẹ́, returning as a Guest Author with this review for AiW, has also given us his Words on the Times, a Q&A series initiated to connect up and share the experiences of life and work during… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020 & Africa Writes. Q&A: “[I]nvite our audiences to meditate on joy and re-center our humanity”: Ifeanyi Awachie’s Words on the Times
AiW note: In the first of Africa Writes’ online events this year, Ifeanyi Awachie, London-based Igbo curator and writer, will be in conversation with the 2020 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted writers this evening, Monday 20th July at 19.00 BST (20.00… Read More ›
Review: Zimbabwe’s substitutions, or: what difference would a good or bad past make? Novuyo Rose Tshuma’s ‘House of Stone’ (2018).
AiW Guest: Ranka Primorac. AiW note: After her review of Tshuma’s House of Stone, we were able to catch up with Ranka Primorac for her Words on the Times, an AiW Q&A series running over the last few months, connecting up and… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times – Carol Bouwer & Elana Brundyn, Norval Foundation – women leading in the arts in a time of disruption
AiW guests: Carol Bouwer and Elana Brundyn “We must ensure that the women on our continent know that Elana Brundyn with her illustrious background in the art world, chose to attach her name as CEO to this great monument, and… Read More ›
Q&A: “It has lifted the spirits of many theatre makers who were feeling isolated and frustrated”: #LockdownShakespeare and Words on the Times
In April, with theatre stages empty following the COVID-19 pandemic, Shakespeare ZA — a project of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa (SSOSA), set up to promote the work of South African theatre-makers, film-makers, translators, researchers and writers engaging with… Read More ›
Words on the Times and a Past & (Everyone is) Present – Re-presenting Andrew van der Vlies’ review of Terry Kurgan’s “Everyone is Present”
AiW note: Yesterday, we published South African artist and photographer Terry Kurgan’s Words on the Times, an AiW Q&A set that offers a space for connection during the distancing measures necessitated by the coronavirus. In her responses, Kurgan discusses the copies… Read More ›
Q&A:Words on the Times – Terry Kurgan
Kurgan has achieved something rare in this book: a truly dynamic fusion of text and image. She brings a deep knowledge of craft to everyday images, whether she’s teasing fugitive meanings from a creased pre-war snapshot or taking the pulse… Read More ›
A Box Full of Darkness: The Spaces of Trauma in Jumoke Verissimo’s “A Small Silence”
AiW Guest: James Yeku. AiW note: Anticipating this review, yesterday Jumoke Verissimo, author of A Small Silence (Cassava Republic), offered us her Words on the Times, a Q&A set that offers a space for connection in the experiences of the… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times – Jumoke Verissimo
“A Small Silence feels like an act of literary disruption. Hypnotic, expertly crafted and full of subtle power, it challenges cultural norms around silence, darkness and solitude, leaving the reader changed in ways that are hard to define.” Irenosen Okojie, Guardian… Read More ›
“A Thousand Tentative Tendrils”: Review of The Only Magic We Know: Selected Modjaji Poems 2004 to 2019
AiW Guest: Susanna Sacks. AiW note: This review is the fourth, and last, in a series of posts on the release of two anniversary collections from feminist indy press Modjaji Books – the short story anthology published last year, Fool’s Gold: Selected… Read More ›